Bayern Munich’s Lucas Hernandez has successful operation on his knee

Per an update from Bayern Munich’s official website, defender Lucas Hernandez has undergone a successful operation in Innsbruck by Professor Christian Fink to repair his torn cruciate ligament. He sustained the injury in the first half of France’s 4-1 win over Australia to pen up their World Cup campaign and he was replaced by his brother, Theo Hernandez in the 13th minute of play when France was trailing 1-0 after a goal from Craig Goodwin.

He’s set to begin his rehab back in Munich in the “coming days” as he faces a lengthy road to recovery, though this isn’t the first time he’s faced a situation like this. Back when Bayern bought him from Atletico Madrid, he was still recovering from an MCL injury that saw him miss the majority of the 2018/19 season as well as most of the beginning of the 2019/20 season in which Bayern won the treble under Hansi Flick.

For what it’s worth, this might pave the way for Benjamin Pavard to get more minutes at center-back, which is where he’s made clear he prefers, though Julian Nagelsmann has predominantly used him a right back. Hopefully he, Dayot Upamecano, and Matthijs de Ligt are all able to make it out of the World Cup unscathed.

Unfortunately, Hernandez now faces a long spell on the sidelines, which will cause him to miss out on the crucial Champions League round of 16 legs for Bayern against Paris Saint-Germain. Sadio Mane had just sustained an injury that ruled him out of the World Cup for Senegal and Julian Nagelsmann was dealt yet another blow when Noussair Mazraoui was stretchered off during Morocco’s 0-0 draw against Croatia. At this rate, depth could very well run quite thin for Bayern once the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and Champions League resumes after the World Cup. Not to mention, Leroy Sane also missed Germany’s 2-1 loss to Japan due to a knee problem.

It’s as if Bayern is somehow cursed at this World Cup...